Month: January 2017

A step forward
Ten steps lost
What time has been slow to wash
Now sit in filth
Filth worse than it had seen
Being fanned by flies
Oh knives of division cuts through humanity
And like a melting cake
It gives way to wailing wishes
Guarded by suppressing bombs

II
Tales are told upon tales
Tails of humanity now fan flames of hatred
Crowns meant for smiles
Now sit to cut deep into flesh
Sucking blood of hosts
Turning vampires to scatter bodies

III
Fingers will now point at eachother
Asking in rhetoric whose fault fled here the misfortune train
Who mistook the metallic bird for a flexible eagle?
Who killed sanity and woke insanity?
Who mandated the hand that draws these lines?
Lines of unfairness
Lines calling for blood
Lines of games refereed by death!
It must be the yearning of few
Few shadows multiplied by rays of light
Aided by darkness to confuse soldiering eyes
Still the waves sleep
Leaving the ship to sit in dancing
As its travelers pray for winds
To blow it to the quarter of change
Amoafowaa Sefa Cecilia (c) January 30, 2017

We have crossed the river
The river which made us shiver
Keeping us on safe ground
All around

II
We have bossed
We have bossed the bosses who consciences checked
Regarding none that crossed
Now chaos, like clouds, wreck into worst wreckedness

III
Cockroaches now fly in daylight like birds
Flies now rule like eagles
Even dogs look like chameleons
So unreadable
Where are the birds and eagles?
How did doves get replaced by vultures?
Decorum sinks lower in dark circles
Branding us blind
Leaving us behind
Amoafowaa Sefa Cecilia (c) January, 2017

As many, their cutlasses wield
Like monsters on a game field
Please Lord, don’t let my spirit yield
Be my capable shield

II
I know I am not fast
My legs, in run, will not in this race last
Not with enemy soldiers at vantage points on a land so vast
Help me see this as past

III
As death waits to buy
Me in an auction for me to die
Lord, don’t just sigh
No matter how many rules, I, in sin, fry

IV
I am on this hard way
Whatever I needingly say
May not throw a ray
But do look at my heart, and clear my day
I sure will in dedication pay
In praise worthy, as I in your good light stay
Amoafowaa Sefa Cecilia (c) January 24, 2017

The sky sees many monarchs
Those whose sadness floods the earth
Giving life to most and taking some
Those whose happiness burns the earth
Warming most, drying fractions and killing some
Those whose air barber trees
Burning weeds
And aiding and abetting fires
The sky really sees many monarchs

II
Amazing how all weathers have their favourites
Honouring some
Demoting some
And killing some
Life’s changes favour all
But under the right weather
Being carted by time
Amoafowaa Sefa Cecilia (c) January 22, 2017

Mouths of challenges smile mischievously
Even when their hurricanes dance
With beasts of chaos
Brother of mine
Walk through its fires
And be its king

II
Words which walk through the taunting mouths if troubles
Can scatter brains as the mad scatters in insanity
Brave hearts allow the noise
Knowing blessed breezes are on the way to calm
Heart of a being
Beat to their rhythms until they fall to follow your tune as subjects

III
There is no virgin pain
Years have pushed beings into them
And have made all that hurt hearts prostitutes
Like leaves on a tree
Some endure as some fall
Sister of mine, wake from the torture

IV
As you cry in your sighs
Some are paralyzed by pain
But will work to walk through
Or die trying
The world treats us like fowls
Be skillful in dodging
Or fall into saucepans of delicacies
Enjoyed by tongues of mortal enemies
Amoafowaa Sefa Cecilia (c) Jan. 19, 2017

Shame is the first act which chases
As the heart, in pain races
Soldier words in mouths take bases
Dead flowers of horrid laughter in ridicule vases
Such is the cross of loss
Turning a crown into a horse
With a foe as its boss

III
A crowd gives worship of pain
Darkness tries to make you sane
Thought of taunts, like a fearful boss, in hiding chain
A dying wish for a fleeing train
Such is the cross of loss
Turning a crown into a clown
Performing on knees at the toe of a foe

III
Heavy as it may be
Only sages at the far end see
Fools and those without its taste climb many a history tree
To make all visible even as time sets you free
Such is the cross of loss
Every wing given digs up its memories
A bold flight buries the thoughts
And makes strong hearts out of its lot
Amoafowaa Sefa Cecilia (c) January 16, 2017.

There are many dialects tongues drive
In this realm called earth
Their beauty; to lie on their own fields
Being dribbled like a ball with Abedi on a smooth park
Time is confusing tongues
Mixing strange ones with the authentic
Soiling what once was pure and untainted
“Mere di Sandwich”
You will hear the Fanti chirp
“Boy a eva loo”
You will hear the Ewe sing
“Is it ready? Binderigu?”
You will hear the Dagomba ask
“Ya ne oya heat niyenii ne woye”
The Ga says in enthusiasm
All virginities of languages broken cruelly into by civilization

II
There certainly was a reason each was given a communication code
Why then do eagles bark
As dogs chirp?
Why do cats crow as cocks meow?
Why do horses roar as lions neigh?
Every sound stands naked on stages of all
How can privacy sit on thrones of meditation?

III
I will drive my Akan like a skilled Kwahu hand
Around an almost perfect fufu in a mortar
Whether in tattered ruin or in normal stance
There are no gears for backwardness
A drive forward is all the world needs
Until sanity wakes us
Or madness takes us to the land where all tongues meet in a common dialect
Amoafowaa Sefa Cecilia (c) January 15, 2017

I am that I am
And all that I will ever be
The servant murdered into birth in seconds
Feeder of the body in locomotive spheres
Contributor to every living’s well being
I have my gentle side
My exploring side
And my fearful side
No farmer farms into famine
So I whirl in play and mature into taking when I need
Some of your forefathers’ forefathers’ knees
Tasted my feet in glory
Some laid their bodies as vessels of worship
For my pleasure in thanksgiving
My duties have changed in multiplicity
Why have yours?
Worship me!
Worship an idol
A member of the working four
Your servant and lord Air

II
I am that I am
And all that I will ever be
I serve in the worst places
Yet pass through tubes to cool all
I have tasted the eyeballs of the sky
Through continuous travels back and forth
I have many sources and many children flowing in and out my jurisdiction
I host most with delicacies mouths quiver for in need
My gathered stomach is combed
My pate so roamed
My beings are mostly poisoned in hunt for my citizens
The irony is that, any harm caused me multiplies in harm to your species
There were years my duties were not as voluminous as today
But I was treated as the god I am
Many giving their own names, altars and days
To pray for my potability and safe travels
I do more
Even shipping your unneeded debris from your homes to your backyards
Why then can’t you worship me?
You must have tasted my power in taking when my anger descends
Tasted my anger when my ways are blocked
What more do you need to see to worship?
Worship me
An idol
One who regulates your temperature and keeps you strong
Worship me, one of the working four you cannot do without
A help and a god by right
Water

III
I am that I am
And all that I will ever be
I rise like a knight with all armours to conquer darkness
To help you see and work all through
Contributing to growth to help you feed
My absence will cost you so much
Through my muse, fire was born
And now your prized electricity which powers all your addictions
The sky is my living place
Every great master surely exhibits great traits in servitude
And you all know I serve right
You sure fear my wrath as elephants fear fire
Even the worshiped waters fear my high presence
For I am one to dry to benefit, and or harm
Don’t you fear me?
Some of your ancestry worshiped and built me temples
Now you shrink in thoughts of my godship
And pray against my spiritual existence?
Worship what regulates your life!
Worship an idol!
Worship me!
The Mighty Sun!

IV
I am that I am
And all that I will ever be
I am the carrier of all that you need and you
The most abused servant
Contaminated, dug into, blasted
And still expected to produce to feed you all
Without me you have no where to go
Your foremothers’ foremothers built me holy grounds of worship
But you curse even at my few followers?
Be grateful and worship an idol
Considering all you take
Remember I am your resting place
You will be me in time after your pompous state
Worship
Worship one of the working four
Instead of your fellow mortal tricksters
We deserve it all
Amoafowaa Sefa Cecilia (c) January 15, 2017

I have a heart
Whose magnetic eyes see it all
From the sighs to wishes from afar
Right up to fantasies I can never fulfill
But I stay rooted
Because of love

II
I have a mind which murders all
And bisect to disect every detail
From my traditional thoughts
To my bold stance
And how you wish them gone
But who will I be without them?
I know someone even I won’t recognize
Your voice tells it all
But you stay because of love

III
I live in words
And you live in rocks, loving wood
When I love the worship of living trees and air
Loving the space where I freeze our beautiful memories
In words none can erase
I know how hard it is for us
But we stay rooted because of love

IV
I know I love showing my back
You love turning me right back
Slapping me with reasons
Urging me with facts
Raining amidst thunders of truth
You do all
I know it is because of love

V
What will love give to two
After strapping them like goats on its pole?
A question which hangs on our crowns of security
But love me because of love
As I do
Just because of love
When love flees and frees
Let’s then look back at its prison in apt emulation
All for nothing but love
Amoafowaa Sefa Cecilia (c) Jan. 14, 2017

Closed eyes see best
But suffer mistrust and fear
Closed eyes feel best
But no matter its painful tear
It matters not to the open rest

II
The elders say
Children can climb the tallest trees
And will never be able to see the needed
Wrinkled old men sit behind closed doors
With closed eyes
And see as far as far’s destination
Why do old ailing eyes have all the visions?

III
The world gets kinder after every torture
The world gets clearer after every tear
The world gets predictable after every stormy slap
The painful lot is knowing all the amswers in static and rotting mode

IV
Before every breakable breaks
It tastes the pain of pressure
Listen to the eyes
Listen to the closed eyes
Listen to the closed eyes who speak in wide travel
They know best what time hides
The same time which gives brides
And turn them into wrinkled chides
And gives grooms and turn them into worrying dooms
Listen
As they chirp in shrilled tones
Behind sticky and policing eyelids
No matter their predictions
They are the mouths of experience
Amoafowaa Sefa Cecilia (c) Jan. 14, 2017

Our guest post for today is a cameraman, a cinematographer, video editor and a film maker. He is what I call “all round in the film field”. He is a gentleman, a hard worker and has marked his name on many grounds. He is none other than Mr. Abdul Washeed. For the convenience of this post we will refer to him as AW.

AW: Alhassan Abdul Washeed is a simple guy who’s trying to make a positive impact on the society. My parents are Mr. Alhassan and madam Amama. I completed my basic education at Bagabaga Ridge after which I went to Vitting Secondary Technical school.

AMOAFOWAA: Why did you choose the camera of all things?

AW: Before I walked to the video cameras, I had a background in story writing. I used to write short stories for the P&P and the Mirror Newspapers. I however made an observation that one can’t solely depend on writing as a career especially in Ghana. Incidentally, I had that curiosity to see how it feels to bring one’s characters to life on the screen. That was when I heard about a film school called Academy of Screen Arts located then in east Legon, Accra. The school was established by a Ghanaian but the lecturers were from across Europe so everything was so practical.

AMOAFOWAA: Has it been fulfilling so far?

AW: Yes it has really been fulfilling, especially how I strategically positioned myself in the business. I am not only a camera person, I am a cinematographer, this means that I can strike up a production set with lighting as well as direct talents. I am also a video editor and a motion graphics and visual effect artiste. Together with my background in writing scripts, I can create and structure a story, then direct and edit it. So in effect, I can go through all the nine yards.

AMOAFOWAA: Any role models so far?

AW: Not really.

AMOAFOWAA: No role models. Fancy! What are the most important things to consider as a videographer and camera man?

AW: As a cinematographer, your equipment are the most essential parts of the trade so I make sure my camera, sound and lighting equipment are in order and working. I also ensure I carry spares of accessories for these tools.

AMOAFOWAA: Do I have to read if I want to be a videographer?

AW: I would say no and yes…

AMOAFOWAA: Why?

AW: You’ll need to dedicate about 20% for reading to know about the terminologies and what kind of equipments and accessories one may need in the business. You spend 80% of the time watching and practising to build your experience and how to approach any new project.

AMOAFOWAA: Does photography have anything to do with storytelling? If yes why?

AW: Yes…the techniques involved in telling a story through the camera is very powerful indeed. Not only should you just point the camera and shoot but placing the camera at an appropriate position depending on the mood of the talent is very essential. Knowing this will set you apart from your peers.

AMOAFOWAA: Do you remember your first assignment that paid off?

AW: Yes… It was when I was producing, directing and editing a program which was being aired on GTV. It was called “Aviation News”.

AMOAFOWAA: Is your field women friendly?

AW: It is… But most women prefer to be in front of the camera and not behind it. They want to be seen on the screen and not their names scrolling down on credit roll that most people don’t bother to observe.

AMOAFOWAA: (laughing out loud) We are pretty beings indeed but some still have passion for it. I can name names but let’s move on. Currently do you work with any organization?

AW: Yes, I am currently the Northern Regional Correspondent for UTV. I’m also the CEO for Tamale Films & Television Academy located here in Tamale where we teach an array of modules in the video and television broadcast industry.

AMOAFOWAA: What is your motivation for all the things you do?

AW: Knowledge is the foundation on which all humans exist. I’ve actually invested much into learning this craft so that I can pass that knowledge down through this generation. That’s why I came back from Accra to set up the school. My motivation is preparing the Young minds of this country especially the Savannah regions to take the advantage of the opportunities in the video and broadcast industries.

AW: I don’t really have a favorite musician, I love all kind of music which strikes a code on me.

AMOAFOWAA: Strikes a code! What are the qualities you look out for in women for dating?

AW: I like a truthful and well mannered woman (in the African sense)

AMOAFOWAA: Single, searching or married?

AW: Married

AMOAFOWAA: Are you a sports fan? If you are which team do you support?

AW: I love basketball. Los Angeles Lakers is my team

AMOAFOWAA: Fancy! Any religious affiliation?

AW: I am a muslim

AMOAFOWAA: If you were appointed president for one term, what are the three things you will prioritize and why?

AW: I will ensure I create a fund through which players in the creative arts industry can source to produce good content for TV and the screen. 2: Will establish film schools in all the ten regions of the country. 3: I will set up a creative contest competition for script writers to editors in the video and TV industry.

AMOAFOWAA: Wow! I am sure people in the arts would look forward to you contesting. What is the craziest thing you have ever done?

AW: I am yet to try the craziest thing.

AMOAFOWAA: Please let me be the first to know when it happens. Who can win your respect in life?

AW: The one who respects me

AMOAFOWAA: You are a role model, what will you tell those who wish to be like you?

AW: They should be self-motivated enough to create their positive thoughts. Nothing comes easy but one can make it with persistence.

AMOAFOWAA: Now tell us all about your Film and Television Industry

AW: Established in October 2014; Tamale Film and Television Academy (TAFTA) is an educational institution which provides a hands-on training in video and television production. The youth, interested in pursuing careers in video and television were left to practice in trial and error since there were no educational facility to provide the empowerment of such skill within the entire savanna regions of Ghana. Thus, Tamale Film and Television Academy is the first education facility in the northern region offering courses in video and television production.

The aim is helping prospective youth who wish to venture into the video industry to learn and apply this knowledge, thereby making our movies more universally acceptable and generating income for themselves.

The school has a specialized curriculum that combines theory with practical application under the mentorship of leading industry professionals. The school awards certificates in Broadcast Performance, Video Editing, Acting, Script Writing, Camera Techniques, Directing, Visual Effects and Motion Graphics. This program requires students to complete an eight month highly intensive hands-on approach to digital film making and television production, designed to teach filmmaking skills in the aforementioned programs. TAFTA emphasizes on hands-on movie making and television affairs, through which students learn creative collaboration, as they begin to develop personal creative styles.

AMOAFOWAA: Wow! Cool. What is your favourite line in the National Anthem of Ghana and why?

AW: “…bold to defend forever, the course of freedom and of pride” Defending the pride of the nation is instilling discipline in our choosing careers

Wool travels through a tree
In a pod which explodes to throw it out
Lucky hands gather to refine
Piece upon a piece into many elegant things
Who is a bird to blame hands
When it feeds on fruits
Stays on trees and
Paint its surrounding with its rear vomiting?

II
A hole can be whole
But in a whole lies a hole
A being was born by a being from a being by a being with no end
Every being artificialised in production
The world is a take upon a take upon a take
Blood being a mixture upon a mixture upon a mixture
All authentic lost to time

III
Oh voices of fake originals!
Horses of self imposed superiors!
Look above and hope to fly
But look down too for the earth awaits
To churn all into food for roots
Roots which would feed your artificials and their artificials
None is a stone which fears no fire, water and air
Amoafowaa Sefa Cecilia (c) Jan. 9, 2017.

III
What dies today?
Breaths are taken
The world is shaken
Most are awake
And can change bake
But what dies from our rots?
What dies from our filth?
What dies from our ills today
To feed fat our lean progress?
Which monster within do I aim to kill
To pay progress’ bill?
Amoafowaa Sefa Cecilia (c) Jan. 9, 2017

It is funny
Very funny how fishes muddy
Toy with
Waste
The water in which they live

II
They create their storms
And shake their grounds
They reject the right rains
And dig for tsunamis
They heat their waters
But stay therein
Is there a thought to point that out?

III
Oh big fishes!
Digging all sea dishes!
Drying up your waters!
Can’t you please mould a thought
For your little ones?
Your little ones who chase and are chased
Knowing nothing but growth in splatter and play
Knowing no difference between bearable and unbearable waters
Sea sands fan you now
But are waiting to choke you and or your descendants into death
When the last drop of water evaporates
Amoafowaa Sefa Cecilia (c) Jan. 8, 2017

I was born with nothing
No fangs
No claws
To talk of clothes and rings and slings to cling
Look at me now
Looking at these crossroads

II
I was born like mixed flour
So light
Does the sun boil me like heat
Which fans the buttocks of pots
As air stirs my content to grow thick like banku?
What do I do with these crossroads?

III
I am like a thirsty owl
I hoot as nature wrote
But other living things call it witchcraft
My eyes; calling for bullets of brave spirits
When all I need, is not greed but nights to feed
What am I on these crossroads?

IV
I have to choose a side
Always
From the loins which pieced my halves
To the groups bonded by blood
To factions at each other’s throats
To beliefs!
Beliefs thought, fantasized, felt into believing
Geographical roars unmentioned
How many breakages does my heart need to have
On these crossroads?

V
Every moment is a choice
Every thought holds a voice
Every step makes its noise
Who am I?
Who at all am I?
What added soil to a soul in blended stones and claws?
Who mixed need and greed to feed on our breed?
Who am I?
Who are you?
Who are we?
Are we worth this struggle?
Amoafowaa Sefa Cecilia (c) Jan. 8, 2017

Dawn is clearing the path of the new sun After filling the hole of the old Its tears are of hope and despair Could the new be a replica of the old?

II The old sun died with time The earth pulling on it the cover of darkness Pushing it to set prematurely Aided by some clouds who cushioned it What are palms concealing in a fist Concerning the future of the new?

III Dust say the old sun insulted it Calling it mud even in its dryness Heating when rain arrested it Helping not after its stir into mud So helped to pull on it doomed curtains

IV Water says the old sun stole its coolness Turning it into floating air with no known space The little left of her becoming homes for insects As its citizens were haunted and hunted to feed monsters Others murdered to sink into rot All through, the old sun shone brightest To give its enemies visibility

V Some clouds claimed they were footmats They lived in the sky but were threatened with pushes What was their trouble to hobble while gobbling curses? What was their crime to be treated less than silver lining? So they too helped to pull down the curtains of the old sun

VI There are expectations churned into over-jubilation The new sun in its dawn is overwhelmed Most of the earth stay by its side Other worlds watch in anticipation Looking for the duration when its popularity will fall Looking for times when its light will soar Looking for the time when all elements will gather to pour their displeasure But for now, a new moon rises And many hope for a vitamin D favour Amoafowaa Sefa Cecilia (c) January 7, 2017

On egos ride
Sits pride which is cautioned to hide
Like two in one in a stride
The groom rides the bride
The bride feels dry even on the side

II
Cleaning to gleaning
A leg on a leg
Washing to cooking
Newspaper blessing eyes
Sweeping and weeping
Eyes glued on women’s butts parading on magic boxes
Running to work after doing dishes
Left to work after eating wishes
A woman in odd
Man in even

III
He dreams of those to rear
Her front suffers with her rear
He wishes for a pampering
His weight on her pain
What she gives out needs no praise
The little he dishes needs loud praise
Wronged, her tears dig trenches in her throat
Soldiering criticisms stand with bulging eyes
Making sure they do not walk through mouths
Let alone hit the road of knowledge
From a white veil
To the slave in work trade
What is the essence of this labour?
A woman is woe onto herself
A man’s body brush at best
Used to clear his dust and cob-webs
And his rag at worst
Used to clean mud, stepped on like a bug
Was Odomankoma bias in black feminine moulding?
Amoafowaa Sefa Cecilia (c) Jan 4, 2017

It sheds its skin of years When time travels from J to D Like the proverbial snake who sheds, marks And never looks back Each spot remains on the shed As the new skin makes its history into shedding I am like the year which acts like the snakeII He who builds mud on destroyed skin Has lost a wiring in the upper house He who peels the skin With no thought to pain, further invites famished flies Who eat into scarring Like the year, I wait for nature's shedding And a crown of faith Knowing a fall is nothing permanentIII Old leaves fall for new leaves to rise Trees lose no hope when their leaves and fruits Are shed through wind's cruelty Life pinches to soothe So I live like the year which lives like the snake Shedding pain
Shedding troubles
Shedding squabbles
Shedding old victories
Into the arms of history, for new
Amoafowaa Sefa Cecilia (c) Jan. 1, 2017
Photo Credit: Google pics

For all that is fair
All that we share
All that life makes us bear
I hope for you strength to dare
Even when storms of life glare
Hoping for you speed of the hare
To go through and success pair
This New Year and beyond
Happy New Year to all followers of amoafowaa.com.
Thank you for your continuous support. Blessings.